"We're implementing a new system, and we've seen the impact of that in bursts, where right off the bat you can see us struggle to assimilate, and then bam, for two or three games something clicks for us," he said.

The Cougars play with tremendous effort every night. Now he's looking for consistently tremendous execution to go with it.

But transitioning to a more aggressive, up-tempo game hasn't been easy.

"We want to go fast and we want to get up as many shots as we can, and then we want to make sure that we're playing stingy defense, and that we're aggressive defensively, whether it's in a press or man-to-man," Villafone said. We always feel that our offense is predicated by our defense."

Everything came together at Katy ISD's ConocoPhillips tournament, where Cinco Ranch beat state-ranked teams in Atascocita and Killeen Ellison and also notched a big win over Cypress Ranch.

Cinco beat Atascocita 63-59 because they played with urgency, Villafone said.

"That was a quality win for us because they have a great program and a great coach," he said. "For us to get that was evidence of the steps we're taking forward, and showed what our potential is when we play well."

Back-to-back district losses to Katy Taylor and Seven Lakes showed the Cougars still have a ways to go.

The Mustangs nailed several clutch 3s and scored 64 points, the most Cinco's given up in district, in a 64-60 win, and Seven Lakes won 53-45 in overtime when Cinco had a chance to win in regulation.

"We were on the free-throw line to win the game with two seconds left and we missed a free throw, and then we lost in overtime," Villafone said.

Cinco Ranch has played better since, winning games against Katy, Mayde Creek and Morton Ranch before this week.

Villafone says they're starting to jell after a long Christmas break.

"We were slow putting it all back together again, and I still don't think we're quite there, but I do think we're playing better now than we were two weeks ago," he said.

Lynch is the leading scorer, at about 15 points per game, and a key rebounder.

"She's one of those all-purpose players," Villafone said.

"She can handle the ball a little bit for us, even though she's a post, so we use her a lot on the press break. She can score with her back to the basket, (and) she can face up a little bit and knock down the 17-foot shot."

Evans plays inside-out and is right behind Lynch in scoring.

"Corin's a tremendous shooter," Villafone said. "She spreads the floor for us. Her ability to hit outside shots forces people to go out and cover her, and then she's capable of putting it on the floor and getting to the basket. She's real strong."

Jackson's the biggest surprise, helping the team's transition to an up-tempo attack with her vision and aggression. She's often the spark that gets Cinco Ranch's offense going when it stalls out.

Next up are key rematches with Katy Taylor, on Friday, and Seven Lakes, on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

"Those games are huge," Villafone said. "They're huge in a few ways. For us, that Taylor game is going to have a huge bearing on our playoff seeding and where we finish in the standings. And both Seven Lakes and Taylor are teams that, for the last few years, have been better than us. So, in terms of moving forward to bigger and better things, it's important that we do well against them, because they're the benchmark for the district and who's the top dog."